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Thought this may be a little light relief to the antics of May , JC and the Brexiteers .( available on itunes ).

Saw a report today that the eminent physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawkins has concluded that Man needs to prepare plans to leave this planet in the not to distant future . ( Sorry to all you geeks out there but I have not the foggiest how to post a link on here ).Anyway he has proposed building a small spacecraft called a starchip , ( just a few inches in length ) , which will travel along laser beams at a fifth the speed of light , ( roughly 100,000,000 mph ) , reaching it's proposed destination , Alpha Centauri , in a mind blowing 25 years .Though it would not be able to land it would send back images in the hope that it would show a habitable world that we could exploit , ( my words not his ) , though getting there may be a little problematic .

The debatable question is...........should we even consider it ? It is assumed that the reason we have not been "visited "by intelligent life forms is 1 . The distances involved , and 2 . Intelligent life is probably extremely rare as they have undoubtedly destroyed themselves by war or disease before attaining the ability to transverse the cosmos .

Thought this may be a little light relief to the antics of May , JC and the Brexiteers .( available on itunes ).

Saw a report today that the eminent physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawkins has concluded that Man needs to prepare plans to leave this planet in the not to distant future . ( Sorry to all you geeks out there but I have not the foggiest how to post a link on here ).Anyway he has proposed building a small spacecraft called a starchip , ( just a few inches in length ) , which will travel along laser beams at a fifth the speed of light , ( roughly 100,000,000 mph ) , reaching it's proposed destination , Alpha Centauri , in a mind blowing 25 years .Though it would not be able to land it would send back images in the hope that it would show a habitable world that we could exploit , ( my words not his ) , though getting there may be a little problematic .

The debatable question is...........should we even consider it ? It is assumed that the reason we have not been "visited "by intelligent life forms is 1 . The distances involved , and 2 . Intelligent life is probably extremely rare as they have undoubtedly destroyed themselves by war or disease before attaining the ability to transverse the cosmos .

We may have been visited. Not necessarily in the last 4000 years though. Who knows?

I hope they don't. Man has comprehensively screwed this planet to a point where it's bio diversity is a pale shadow of what it was, the concept of travelling through interstellar space leaving a trail of blackened and dead world's in our wake horrifies me.Technically it would be an immense challenge to travel the distances required, we would need to either come up with a propulsion system that would allow us to travel at the speed of light and even then you would be putting young people in at one end and getting geriatrics out at the other. So, then we have a choice, either advanced cryo stasis or a multi generational craft with its attendant problems.Then, who would go? I can imagine the international and inter faith bickering that would generate 😣 Perhaps the answer lies in the arcane mystery of string theory, linking the various theoretical 'branes' in order to travel into adjacent dimensions via the fabled 'wormhole' effect. Nice challenge though.

I hope they don't. Man has comprehensively screwed this planet to a point where it's bio diversity is a pale shadow of what it was, the concept of travelling through interstellar space leaving a trail of blackened and dead world's in our wake horrifies me.Technically it would be an immense challenge to travel the distances required, we would need to either come up with a propulsion system that would allow us to travel at the speed of light and even then you would be putting young people in at one end and getting geriatrics out at the other. So, then we have a choice, either advanced cryo stasis or a multi generational craft with its attendant problems.Then, who would go? I can imagine the international and inter faith bickering that would generate 😣 Perhaps the answer lies in the arcane mystery of string theory, linking the various theoretical 'branes' in order to travel into adjacent dimensions via the fabled 'wormhole' effect. Nice challenge though.

This was my initial response . A ravaging homo sapien going from planet to planet until the end of time is a frightening thought but survival is an intrinsic trait in all of us and I can see us at least trying .

The one redeeming aspect is that those that who are the most likely to go forth would be at the top of the intelligentsia tree and therefore may be a little more respectful than the general hoi polloi .

I think it highly likely that we shall meet armageddon before we have the technical ability to undertake such a venture .

But it is something better to contemplate than what is currently on offer .

You would probably make the selection on different criteria, strength, fitness, purity of DNA, fertility, ability to improvise, teaching skills, intelligence would not be so important as most of the voyage would be spent doing basic housekeeping tasks aided by robotic systems.

It's a piece of piddle. All you need to do is change all the dials on existing spacecraft to show 'Warp Speed' and Bob's your uncle.

We will all have been space dust for millennia before any of this fantasy could ever have been a reality. If Einstein says it can't be done then it can't be done.

You might be right, still I heard the other day that there are a couple of brothers in America who have been doing some amazing things with machines that can get a man up in the air! Don't believe it personally, I mean, what practical use would a flying machine have? It's humbug.

The idea that we are wrecking the planet is a sentimental and subjective view. It is true that we are adversely impacting on a number of things, but we are only doing what nature intends and permits. I see this as a race to see if we can safely evacuate this planet before it becomes uninhabitable. If we fail, so what. It is what nature would have us do.

The idea that we are wrecking the planet is a sentimental and subjective view. It is true that we are adversely impacting on a number of things, but we are only doing what nature intends and permits. I see this as a race to see if we can safely evacuate this planet before it becomes uninhabitable. If we fail, so what. It is what nature would have us do.

Sentimental huh? Poisonous air, poisonous seas, overpopulation, cutting down all the forests, desertification, Google the Ural sea, extinction of species, nothing sentimental or natural about what this species has done to its homeworld. If nature intended and permitted it why isn't it healing itself. No wonder we are in the state we are in when idiots like you are allowed to steal our oxygen 😎

Sentimental huh? Poisonous air, poisonous seas, overpopulation, cutting down all the forests, desertification, Google the Ural sea, extinction of species, nothing sentimental or natural about what this species has done to its homeworld. If nature intended and permitted it why isn't it healing itself. No wonder we are in the state we are in when idiots like you are allowed to steal our oxygen 😎

I'm not sure with what authority you can justify that last statement. It is disappointing that people are quick to the insults before seeking clarification; a product of the Facebook generation perhaps. My point is that to the best of our thinking, we are simply bags of transitional energy and anything we do is because nature made it so. Pollution = evil or bad is a man-made idea. It doesn't stop pollution being bad, but even being bad is man-made, hence my use of sentimental in my comments.

BTW, nature has been the cause of the vast majority of instinctions, before man even existed. Indeed, man is a natural product. Blame her, you old hysterical rightie you!

I'm not sure with what authority you can justify that last statement. It is disappointing that people are quick to the insults before seeking clarification; a product of the Facebook generation perhaps. My point is that to the best of our thinking, we are simply bags of transitional energy and anything we do is because nature made it so. Pollution = evil or bad is a man-made idea. It doesn't stop pollution being bad, but even being bad is man-made, hence my use of sentimental in my comments.

BTW, nature has been the cause of the vast majority of instinctions, before man even existed. Indeed, man is a natural product. Blame her, you old hysterical rightie you!

Subjective?? Anyway, instinctions? That's not even a word. If you mean extinctions then it's true that nature has contrived at least two major extinction events but everything else was either natural selection or a natural extinction. Nature didn't contrive to cause extinction of species for fun or by stupidity. Only man does that. Nature good, man bad.

As the man said "humanity is like a virus, infecting the planet". A virus is an apt description and if nature was to contrive a 'cure' for the infection that currently despoils it's host body than I for one would not be happier. As a species we are a dead end, destined to die out, a failure that couldn't live in balance with its natural habitat, apt to think that even cockroaches will outlive us as a species 🤔

Worry bout that later, when everything's used up. We can always go and get someone else's stuff, always worked in the past. Dig, drill, feed. Excess is good. Someone can't keep up? Tough! Them or us baby.

The idea that we are wrecking the planet is a sentimental and subjective view. It is true that we are adversely impacting on a number of things, but we are only doing what nature intends and permits. I see this as a race to see if we can safely evacuate this planet before it becomes uninhabitable. If we fail, so what. It is what nature would have us do.

I always thought it was an experiment being run by the mice - and the answer is 42

I always thought it was an experiment being run by the mice - and the answer is 42

So, there's the problem, we've been looking for wormholes in space when we should have been looking for mouseholes! A pan dimensional being working out the thermal coefficient of cheese! And the answer is, squeak!!. 🐀

A typo. I was using a small smart phone and these things happen. It should read extinction.

QUOTE (Turin Machine @ Jun 23 2017, 09:27 AM)

If you mean extinctions then it's true that nature has contrived at least two major extinction events but everything else was either natural selection or a natural extinction. Nature didn't contrive to cause extinction of species for fun or by stupidity. Only man does that. Nature good, man bad.

Man is natural, therefore nature caused the issue. Man behaves in the way nature designed. To say otherwise is to suggest Man is above nature. That is the same logic of people who believe in a sky daddy.

Worry bout that later, when everything's used up. We can always go and get someone else's stuff, always worked in the past. Dig, drill, feed. Excess is good. Someone can't keep up? Tough! Them or us baby.

That is what nature permits. Man works best when the shoite hits the fan. Until then, it is a case of: we'll do it tomorrow.

As the man said "humanity is like a virus, infecting the planet". A virus is an apt description and if nature was to contrive a 'cure' for the infection that currently despoils it's host body than I for one would not be happier. As a species we are a dead end, destined to die out, a failure that couldn't live in balance with its natural habitat, apt to think that even cockroaches will outlive us as a species 🤔

But even those will die in the furnace of the Sun. Anyway, we were living in natural balance of its habitat, but then the Brits invented the Industrial Revolution and scientists took over from religious leaders and now our population has exploded, possibly out of control.